
The Future Tense in French is commonly used to talk about what’s going to happen in the future. As with all French tenses, the Future Tense can prove to be tricky when learning the language. Fear not – we’re here to help you!
Let’s find out how to form and use it in this quick and simple guide.
What is the Future Tense?
Quite simply, the Future is a category of tenses that are used to refer to an event that will take place in the future.
English uses different constructions to talk about the future. These are mostly formed with the auxiliary verb “will”, “shall” or a form of “be” with “going to.”
However, you’ll find it to be not that different in French.
How is the Future Tense used in French?
First of all, it’s important to know that there are two types of Future Tenses in French:
- The futur proche (near future) is used to talk about something that you’re certain is going to happen. It’s widely used in French; during informal conversations or to make simple statements.
For example: Je vais lire un livre. (I am going to read a book) or Je vais avoir 18 ans demain. (I am going to turn 18 tomorrow).
- The futur simple (simple future) is useful if you want to talk about future projects or predictions. It’s used in more formal situations and to make polite requests. It also appears in sentences that include si (if) and quand (when).
For example: Quand j’aurai 18 ans, je pourrai conduire. (When I’ll be 18, I’ll be able to drive) or Je saurai comment jouer à la guitare si je m’entraine. (I’ll be able to play the guitar if I practice).
It’s also good to keep in mind that:
- Just like in English, a future event can be discussed using the present tense:
For example: Je dîne avec le patron à 8 heures. (I’m having dinner with my boss at 8pm.)
- The futur proche will always require the conjugated form of aller to be placed before the verb.
For example: Vous allez échouer si vous n’étudiez pas. (You’re going to fail if you do not study) or Il va manquer la classe. (He’s going to miss the class.)
Here, allez is the verb aller conjugated in the 2nd person plural (vous) and va is conjugated in the 3rd person singular (il). As you can see, they are placed before the verb.
Watch the video below for a quick recap on the French Future Tense:
Forming the French Future Tense: Futur Proche
The futur proche is formed with the verb aller conjugated in the present tense followed by an infinitive:
Pronoun | Present tense aller | Infinitive + future ending | English |
je | vais | manger | I am going to eat |
tu | vas | écrire | You are going to write |
il/elle/on | va | savoir | He/She/One is going to know |
nous | allons | aller | We are going to go |
vous | allez | lire | You are going to read |
il/elles | vont | boire | They are going to drink |
Forming the French Future Tense: Futur Simple
1. Regular verbs ending in -er and -ir
For regular verbs ending in -er and -ir, it’s quite simple. Take the infinitive form of the verb and add the appropriate ending after the r.
Let’s take a look at the verbs manger (to eat) and dormir (to sleep) as examples:
Pronoun | Ending | Infinitive + future ending | English |
je | -ai | je mangerai | I will eat |
tu | -as | tu mangeras | You will eat |
il/elle/on | -a | il/elle/on mangera | He/She/It/One will eat |
nous | -ons | nous mangerons | We will eat |
vous | -ez | vous mangerez | You will eat |
ils/elles | -ont | ils/elles mangeront | They will eat |
Pronoun | Ending | Infinitive + future ending | English |
je | -ai | je dormirai | I will sleep |
tu | -as | tu dormiras | You will sleep |
il/elle/on | -a | il/elle/on dormira | He/She/It/One will sleep |
nous | -ons | nous dormirons | We will sleep |
vous | -ez | vous dormirez | You will sleep |
ils/elles | -ont | ils/elles dormiront | They will sleep |
2. Regular verbs ending in -re
The rule of thumb for these kind of verbs is to remove the last letter ‘e’ and add the appropriate ending.
Let’s take a look at the verb vendre (to sell) as an example:
Pronoun | Ending | Infinitive + future ending | English |
je | -ai | vendrai | I will sell |
tu | -as | tu vendras | You will sell |
il/elle/on | -a | il/elle/on vendra | He/She/It/One will sell |
nous | -ons | nous vendrons | We will sell |
vous | -ez | vous vendrez | You will sell |
ils/elles | -ont | ils/elles vendront | They will sell |
Note: When conjugating verbs ending in –eler and –eter in the Futur Simple, the letters “t” and “l” are doubled. For example, the verb rejeter (to reject) becomes rejetter + future ending (ie je rejetterai = I will reject), while the verb appeler (to call) becomes appeller + future ending (ie tu appelleras = you will call).
3. Irregular verbs
As with practically every French tense, pesky irregular verbs always make an appearance and the Future Simple is no different. In fact, more than twenty verbs fall into this category. No need to panic though! Try starting off with the most common ones and once you get the hang of those, you can move onto the rarer ones later.
Let’s have a look at the verbs avoir, être, faire, aller, venir and pouvoir.
Infinitive | Future stem | Example | English |
Avoir (to have) | -aur | J’aurai | I will have |
Etre (to be) | -ser | Tu seras | You will be |
Faire (to do) | -fer | Il/Elle/On fera | He/She/It/One will do |
Aller (to go) | -ir | nous irons | We will go |
Venir (to come) | -viendr | vous viendrez | You will come |
Pouvoir (to be able to) | -pourr | ils/elles pourront | They will be able to |
Lastly, it’s useful to know that the French Future Tense is commonly used with certain recognisable phrases such as demain (tomorrow), ce soir (tonight), le week-end prochain (next weekend), bientôt (soon) etc.
And there you have it – the French Future Tense explained once and for all! Why not try our quiz below to put what you’ve learnt today to the test?
See you next lesson – and in the meantime, don’t forget to practice! If you need any help don’t hesitate to get into contact with one of our French tutors.
Quiz: Test your knowledge of the French Future Tense!